The Infected
The Infected are the antagonists of the films 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later, the graphic novel 28 Days Later: The Aftermath, and the ''28 Days Later'' comic series. They are, as their name suggests, people infected with the Rage Virus. Info Rage does not directly cause the death of its host, but because the host is solely focused on infecting or killing the uninfected, it causes those infected to become disinterested in self-nourishment which will eventually cause death by starvation (28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, 28 Days Later: The Aftermath). Since the virus causes those infected to act with no regard for self-preservation, they will not act to evade mortal danger, such as fire, gunshots, or chemical gas (28 Weeks Later). Though the Infected possess a disregard for pain, the number of major body parts severed will affect their mobility, as one Infected was shown to move very slowly compared to other Infected after its arm and shoulder were severed by helicopter blades (28 Weeks Later). The Infected experience spasms in the extremities (28 Days Later), and their irises become blood red. They also bleed from their eyes and nose and vomit copious amounts of infectious blood. According to Dr. Billingsworth, these symptoms are caused by hemorrhaging of the capillaries (28 Days Later (comic series)). It has also been shown that the Infected use their sense of smell to find the uninfected and that trace amounts of products such as perfume or soap will attract them to the source (28 Days Later: The Aftermath). Those infected with Rage will also ignore each other and only attack those who are not infected and/or do not show symptoms of Infection. The Infected are distinct from cinematic zombies in that they are not the reanimated dead. Also, films such as George A. Romero's Living Dead series, Return of the Living Dead, and the Resident Evil series portray zombies as creatures that desire to consume living flesh. By contrast, while the Infected will attempt to bite their victims, it is usually as a means of either killing them (often by severing the main arteries in their neck) or spreading the virus. They are not shown to ingest any organic material, apparently due to said disregard for nourishment. Another key difference is that the Rage-infected victims are still living human beings and as such can be killed by weapons and other means that are fatal to uninfected humans. (28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later) Also, while the standard cinematic zombie is depicted as a slow and clumsy creature, the Infected are very strong and fast-moving, thanks to their adrenaline-enhanced stamina. Unlike other zombies, the Infected, while losing most of their higher levels of intelligence, are apparently highly attuned to their surroundings, being able to navigate over and around obstacles to otherwise unseen targets (28 Weeks Later, 28 Days Later: The Aftermath). Whereas most other zombies will simply try to approach non-infected individuals from the most direct route, often failing repeatedly. The Infected in a similar situation will simply run into the building, often destroying doors and windows, and go through the structure to reach the designated target. For example, at the church in London, when Jim was fleeing the church balcony, the Infected beneath the balcony, rather than try to climb up onto the balcony and follow Jim from there, went through the doors into the church's corridors to try and intercept Jim. (28 Days Later) It has also been shown that when an uninfected individual is near, an Infected will become enraged and try and get to, and infect or kill the uninfected. But once the uninfected has gone and the Infected is unable to go after them, the Infected will quickly calm down and simply stand on the spot, virtually still, for an unknown amount of time (possibly until the Infected decides to go and search for other uninfected, or until it is drawn by nearby activity). (28 Days Later, 28 Days Later (comic series)) Abilities The Infected still have the same level of, if not increased, mobility as they did before becoming infected. It has also been shown that they do possess a rudimentary sense of spatial awareness. For example, the infected Don Harris was shown to be able to manipulate such simplistic objects as blunt-force weapons. The Infected can be killed by conventional means though killing an infected human may be made more difficult by their adrenaline enhanced strength, endurance, and disregard for pain along with their own well being (28 Weeks Later). The Infected also gain heightened senses of sight, hearing, and smell (28 Days Later: The Aftermath). The Infected are also extremely sensitive to light and noise, as the light of one small candle was shown to be sufficient enough to draw the attention of nearby Infected (28 Days Later); and the infected Don had little trouble roaming around in the abandoned Underground, whereas Tammy, Andy and Scarlet needed night vision in order to navigate through the darkness. (28 Weeks Later) While the Infected do eventually die from lack of nutrition, the Rage Virus seems to slow down their metabolism to such an extent that the Infected are able to last up to 8 weeks or less before becoming too weak to move (28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later). The process may speed up or slow down depending on how active the Infected are. Before Jim alerted several Infected in a church, they were lying motionlessly amongst a large amount of corpses, perhaps to conserve energy, or due to lack of any non-infected individuals around. Or it could be because of their nocturnal nature, or even two or all three of these reasons. (28 Days Later) Intelligence and Behaviour The Infected are shown to retain some intelligence from before they were infected, including spatial awareness, as they can calculate complex routes to unseen targets. They are also aware that if an uninfected victim is already dead, then they cannot infect or kill it themselves. This was shown during the Second Outbreak when an Infected grabbed an uninfected woman, but when the woman was shot and killed by a sniper seconds later, the Infected immediately tossed her aside (28 Weeks Later). The Infected also showed some intelligence when a horde of Infected attacked Frank's taxi in an underground tunnel; when the uninfected group escaped in the taxi out of the tunnel, the Infected gave up the chase, knowing they had as good as lost them by now. (28 Days Later) It may also appear that at least some of the Infected are aware that they can indirectly use the uninfected to lead them to other uninfected victims. This may have been shown when Jim released the infected Mailer into the Worsley House; the latter appeared to be following Jim around the mansion without attacking him, as though he knew that Jim was deliberately leading him to the uninfected soldiers. However, it may have been that the infected Mailer was actually following Jim to try and catch and attack him, and that Jim was simply able to evade Mailer before the latter had a chance to attack him (28 Days Later). It is also possible that after Sandford was attacked during the Original Outbreak the Infected chased the Refugee Boy from Sandford without attacking him so that he would, while trying to escape them, unintentionally lead them to more uninfected survivors; there is no chance that a four-foot high boy would be able to outrun a horde of rage-filled adults such as the Infected from Sandford. (28 Weeks Later) At least one Infected, Donald Harris, was also shown to possess intelligence that was usually devoid in the Infected; he expressed pleasure in others' suffering, and even retained fragment memories of his family, to the point that after he was infected, he began stalking and following his children. It is also believed that the infected Don remembers how to operate basic machinery, as he was able to escape Alice's isolation cell, something he only could have done if he used his ID card to unlock the door to the cell. (28 Weeks Later) The Infected apparently also retain basic problem-solving intelligence, as the infected Don Harris used objects such as an M4 rifle as blunt force weapopns. It has also been shown that the Infected prefer to attack victims that are easier to kill or infect. This was shown during the attack on Geoff and Sally's far, when an Infected tried to attack Don Harris; when Don locked himself in a room from the Infected and the Infected was unable to break in, he immediately attacked Alice and the boy from Sandford instead. (28 Weeks Later) It appears that the Infected are more aggressive and vicious towards Carriers than they are towards victims who are susceptible to infection. This is most likely because Carriers cannot become Infected as they are technically already infected with the virus. After Don Harris was infected, he brutally and cruelly attacked, mutilated, and killed his wife Alice (who was a Carrier). However, it is also possible that this was not because she was a Carrier, but because of Don's memories of her. (28 Weeks Later) The Infected prefer to be in shaded to pitch black areas compared to bright light. For example, the survivors of the Original Outbreak would rather move during day light, and the Infected which chased Jim, Hannah, Frank and Selena through the underground tunnel did not not follow them into the daylight, as well as the night attacks on the Worsley House (28 Days Later). Also, the Infected from the Second Outbreak of Rage, in particular Don Harris, preferred to lurk in pitch black areas, and the Infected which survived the Code Red firebombing were also shown to retreat into the Underground at dawn. (28 Weeks Later) It appears that if Infected hear a sound made by uninfected, they will relentlessly search the source of the sound for the uninfected; but if they are unable to find them fastly enough, they will quickly abandon searching for them and go back to searching for other victims. It has also been shown that if one Infected hears a noise and begins attacking a vehicle or a building to find the uninfected inside, other Infected who notice this will see that the Infected has found uninfected people, and will begin attacking as well. (28 Days Later (comic series)) Notable Infected *Animal Freedom Front activists *Infected Priest *Infected Child (deceased) *Frank (deceased) *Mailer *Clifton *Warren *Liam *Karen (deceased) *Geoff *Jacob (deceased) *Alice Harris (Carrier, deceased) *Donald Harris (deceased) *Weise (deceased) *Andy Harris (Carrier) *David (deceased) *Ahmed Karzaii *Douglas (deceased) *Dr. Billingsworth Gallery ''28 Days Later 28DaysInfected01.jpg|An animal activist's red eyes shortly after infection InfectedPriest.jpg|Infected Priest 28DaysInfected02.jpg|A burning Infected chasing Jim 28DaysInfected03.png|Infected Bridges 28DaysInfected04.jpeg|A horde of Infected chasing Frank's taxi 28DaysInfected05.jpg|Infected Child 28DaysInfected06.jpg|Private Mailer spewing blood 28DaysInfected07.jpg|Infected Mailer 28DaysInfected08.jpg|Mailer searching for victims InfectDMAyler.jpg|Mailer killing Private Bell StarvInfected.jpg|Starved Infected 28 Weeks Later 28WeeksInfected01.jpg|An Infected breaking into the cottage 28WeeksInfected02.jpg|An Infected spots Karen whilst outside the cottage 28WeeksInfected03.png|An Infected infecting Karen 28WeeksInfected04.jpg|Infected Karen 28WeeksInfected05.jpg 28WInfectednWindw.jpg|An Infected breaking into the cottage through the kitchen window InfectedInCottageWindow.jpg|Infected in the broken cottage window 28WeeksInfected06.jpg|Infected Geoff InfectAttackCottage.jpg 28WeeksInfected07.jpg InfectedComeOverHill.jpg|The Infected chase after Don Harris 28WL InfectedAttackCotAj.jpg 28weeks-1-.jpg 28WeeksInfectedBehindDon.jpg|The Infected chase Don to the dock 28WeeksBoatInfectedKickedByDon.jpg 28WeeksInfected09.jpg|Don escaping the Infected Infecjacob.jpg|Infected Jacob 28WeeksInfected08.jpg 28WeeksInfected10.jpg|The Rage Virus overwhelms Don Harris 28WeeksInfected14.jpg|Don killing Alice Infected Don.jpg|Infected Don Harris 28WeeksInfectedSoldier.jpg|Infected Weise 28WeeksInfected15.jpg|Weise seconds before his death InfecteDonAttack.jpg|Don spreads the Infection 28WeeksInfectedStormLondon01.jpg|The Infected storm through London InfecTarget.jpg 28weekslater-1-.jpg|Infected woman 28WeeksInfected16.jpg 28WeeksInfected17.jpg 28WeeksInfected18.jpg|Infected Don about to attack his daughter Infected in Paris.jpg|The Infected in Paris 28 Days Later: The Aftermath AftermathInfected01.jpg|Infected Warren InfectedLeam.jpg|Infected Liam AftermathInfected02.jpg AftermathInfected03.jpg AftermathInfected04.jpg AftermathInfected05.jpg AftermathInfected06.jpg AftermathInfected07.jpg AftermathInfected08.jpg|Starving Infected Trivia *Ethan Van Sciver, Green Lantern writer and artist, officially stated in Issue #2 of ''Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps that the Red Lanterns, people wearing red power rings and filled with rage that spew dangerously acidic blood, were inspired by the Infected from the 28 Days Later franchise. He also mentioned that they were his favourite Lantern Corps. *The Flood from the Doctor Who episode The Waters of Mars are similar to the Infected in that they are both humans infected with an extremely virulent and fast-acting virus, and both produce copious amounts of infectious blood/water from their mouths. *People who are observant will noticed that the Infected sometimes go after their former friends or family (now turned enemies). Examples of this are: **Mailer, the Infected that was chained in the Worsley House courtyard in 28 Days Later, attacks his uninfected fellow soldiers first before proceeding to attack Jim, Selena and Hannah. **In 28 Weeks Later, the infected Don appears to be stalking his children. *The only infected animals to be see (so far) are the chimpanzees from 28 Days Later; apart from that no other infected animals are seen. Oddly, there does not appear to be that many animals around since the Original Outbreak occurred; not even a stray dog is seen (though there are still some horses, swans, pigeons, crows and dogs, as shown in 28 Days and Weeks Later, and the 28 Days Later comics). However, it is probable most of the animals in Britain were killed by the Infected due to their fits of rage and/or due to the fact that only primates (such as humans and monkeys) are able to carry the Rage Virus. It is probable that if an animal was exposed to the Infection, it would be unaffected, as Rage can only use primates as its hosts. *The Infected seen in 28 Weeks Later are apparently as active during the day as at night, forcing survivors to take cover in the darkness. But in 28 Days Later, nd the comic series, the Infected were much more active at night than during the day. The reason for the Infected in 28 Weeks Later being diurnal is not explained anywhere, and it could have been overlooked, or it could just be the Infected's sheer determination to find more uninfected victims. Another possibility is that people infected do not become nocturnal until some time after infection. This is supported by the fact that most of the Infected seen in Days and the comics had presumably been infected for weeks, whereas the Infected in Weeks had only been infected for hours or days at the most. *In 28 Days Later, the Infected - most noticeably the Infected Priest and Private Clifton - are shown to suffer from strong spasms. However, in 28 Weeks Later, none of the Infected appear to suffer from these spasms. *The Infected appear to have a slower metabolism than normal, being able to last for weeks or possibly even months before succumbing to starvation. However, considering the amount of adrenaline the Infected use to try and infect or kill the uninfected, this should be the other way round; their metabolism should speed up rather than slow down. One possible reason for this is that the Rage Virus alters its hosts' metabolism, allowing them to last much longer without any food or water. Another possible explanation is that when an Infected bites an uninfected victim, the Infected unintentionally ingests some of the victim's blood and flesh. External Links *List of Fictional Diseases - Wikipedia.org * The Infected - Zombiepedia Category:Infected